Rhinelander - Medical bills can take a family to brink of bankruptcy. Not everything is covered. Even if you do have insurance. That's why a Rhinelander nonprofit organization tries to help the families with big medical bills. Today was the seventh annual Christmas From the Heart event.
28 vendors filled the main hallway at Ministry Saint Mary's Hospital in Rhinelander. Ministry Hospice Services helps people with and without insurance. "If Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance can't cover it, since we are nonprofit, then donations such as these can help kick in for patient care," said Volunteer Community Outreach coordinator, Mel Houg. "At the end of life that's the last thing you want to worry about. How am I going to pay for the care? I don't want to leave it all to my family. So that's a huge part of it." A portion of every sale goes to Hospice. The outreach coordinator says this can help a lot of people. "This can help out a number of people. It pays $163 a day. We go off of what they can afford," Houg said. "So it can pitch in for a number of people. Right now we have a census of about 55 people. So that's huge. If we can help out one, that's great." More than 44 million Americans are uninsured.